Kentucky School Advocate
May 2022
Compiled by Eric Kennedy
KSBA Director of Advocacy
HB 121 – Public comment at school board meetings
Requires boards to have a public comment period of at least 15 minutes at regular meetings (not special or emergency meetings). Any board rules and policies regarding conduct during board meetings shall apply during the public comment period.
HB 453 – Open meetings act and video teleconference meetings
Requires a board to provide specific information such as where any member of the media or public may view a teleconference meeting electronically, and the identification of a primary physical location of the teleconference where all members of the public agency who are participating may be seen and heard, if the board provides a physical location for the meeting, or where two or more board members are attending a teleconference meeting from the same physical location.
Requires all board members who participate in a teleconference to remain on camera when business is being discussed.
Clarifies that if a regular meeting is changed to a teleconference, the meeting remains a regular meeting if it occurs on the same date and time as originally scheduled and the board follows the provisions of KRS 61.823(4) to provide a notice that meets the requirements of identifying viewing options and locations.
HB 63 – School resource officers (SROs)
Requires school boards to ensure at least one SRO works full-time on-site at each school campus and says that if sufficient funds and personnel are not available for this, districts shall fulfill the requirement to the extent possible on a per campus basis, as approved by the state school security marshal.
Affirms that local governments are not required to fund SRO positions, creates a statutory framework for school districts to create police departments, streamlining and clarifying the process for boards to establish and operate departments (similar to college and university police departments).
HB 277 – Teacher residency programs
Creates an Option 9 expedited alternative certification pathway through the use of a residency program developed by a district in partnership with a postsecondary institution. Authorizes any person receiving an emergency teaching certification during the 2021-22 school year to be eligible to renew that certification during the 2022-23 school year.
HB 194 – “GED” tests for some alternative education programs
Provides that a student enrolled in a district-operated alternative education program shall be eligible to seek a High School Equivalency Diploma under certain conditions (largely determined by local board policy, namely including that the student is “not on track to graduate”).
HB 44 – Excused absences for student mental health
Clarifies that school board attendance policies may include provisions for a student's mental or behavioral health status to qualify for excused absence, in addition to their physical health. Does not change the total number of excused absences, or any other facet of local board policy and procedure on excuses or absenteeism.
HB 5 – Tornado relief for western Kentucky school districts
$30 million immediately available through KDE for western Kentucky districts impacted by the December 2021 tornadoes; the money can be used for many needs including transportation for displaced students located in surrounding areas.
HB 33 – School building design and plan review
Allows local government plan review, inspection and enforcement of educational facilities, only upon agreement of the locality and the state. Repeals the requirement for all new school buildings to provide sufficient water bottle fillings station and drinking fountains because that is already in regulation.
HB 283 – Student teacher background checks
Permits a district to accept a criminal background check already completed for enrollment in an accredited teacher education institution for a student teacher seeking to work in the district.
HB 397 – Disaster relief for western Kentucky school districts
Allows up to 15 student attendance days to be waived this school year for days districts were closed due to the western Kentucky tornadoes, and considers days waived as completed employment contract days for school personnel.
SB 9 – The “Read to Succeed Act”
Makes numerous reforms to early literacy instruction and in educator preparatory programs and at KDE, reforms the early intervention steps to be taken to help students struggling to learn to read, allows each superintendent to adopt a literacy curriculum across the district. HB 1 contains $11 million per year to fund the initiative.
SB 60 – Head Start “full utilization”
Allows the commissioner of education to determine if a Head Start program has been fully utilized, in relation to a state-funded preschool program in a district, if the district and the local Head Start director cannot agree.
SB 59 – Accountability system changes
Deletes the 10th grade college admissions examination requirement and adds three new postsecondary readiness indicators to the statewide accountability system.
SB 64 – Peer support counseling for public safety employees, including SROs
Authorizes any public agency, including school boards, to establish a peer support counseling program to provide support to public safety officers, including SROs, who have been in or exposed to an emotionally traumatic experience in the course of employment.
SB 83 – Transgender athletic participation
Requires KHSAA to adopt bylaws requiring schools to designate all interscholastic athletics in grades 6-12 based upon the biological sex of the students eligible to participate (either boys; girls; or coed). Prohibits male students in grades 6-12 from participating in girls’ athletics, with sex based upon sex at birth. Prohibits districts from entertaining complaints or investigations of policies relating to these bylaws.
SB 102 – School-based mental health services providers
Amends the current annual report made by superintendents regarding school counselors to begin including information on all school-based mental health services providers employed in the district.
SB 151 – School breakfast
Permits a superintendent to authorize up to 15 minutes of the student attendance day to provide the opportunity for children to eat breakfast during instructional time.